A participant in last weekends Trump caravan is getting sued for hit and run.
A participant in last weekend's Trump caravan is getting sued for hit and run. Nathan Howard / Getty News

Here's your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider making a recurring contribution to the Mercury to keep it comin'!)

ā€¢ Michael Forest Reinoehl, a person of interest in the shooting death of a Patriot Prayer member last Saturday in downtown Portland, has given an interview with local freelance journalist Donovan Farley that will run on Vice News tonight in which Reinoehl says he shot the Trump supporter in self-defense. Here's an excerpt:

ā€œYou know, lots of lawyers suggest that I shouldn't even be saying anything, but I feel it's important that the world at least gets a little bit of what's really going on,ā€ Reinoehl said. ā€œI had no choice. I mean, I, I had a choice. I could have sat there and watched them kill a friend of mine of color. But I wasn't going to do that.ā€

ā€¢ It turns out the protester who was repeatedly punched in the face by a cop on Monday night was actually a protest medic who works for OHSU and was there to attend to injured demonstrators before getting beat down himself. There are many more infuriating details in Sergio Olmos' story.

ā€¢ Three members of Portland's Citizen Review Committeeā€”which advises the Independent Review Board that polices the policeā€”resigned yesterday, citing frustrations about how the committee isn't actually empowered to change things. The cops' constant use of "excessive force" was the tipping point for one member who's had enough.

ā€¢Ā Meanwhile, Governor Kate Brown is condemning the violence at protests while completely ignoring that it's the cops who are committing the lion's share of violence.


ā€¢ A disturbing new trend: The Feds have started charging Portland protesters with "civil disorder"ā€”a loosey-goosey phrase that, like "Interfering with a Police Officer," could mean damn near anything and could be easily abused by authorities.

ā€¢Ā Another lawsuit is being filed against a Trumper after he struck a woman with his truck during last weekend's Trump caravan. Shockingly (sarcasm), Portland Police was told about the hit and run, and refused to do anything about it.

ā€¢ Fourth time's the charm! Mayor Ted Wheeler just appointed his fourth communications directorā€”the person who issues all communications from the mayor's officeā€”and the VERY CHALLENGING job's going to Jim Middaugh who worked comms for Metro for the past 11 years... and may god have mercy on his soul. Our Alex Zielinski has more.

ā€¢ While new coronavirus infections in Oregon may be dropping, the number of deaths have climbed since last week.

IN NATIONAL NEWS:

ā€¢ Joe Biden talked with Jacob Blakeā€”the Black man shot in the back seven times by Kenosha, Wisconsin policeā€”who told the nominee that "nothing was going to defeat him, how whether he walked again or not, he was not going to give up."

ā€¢ Trump suggested that voters in North Carolina vote twice to make sure their ballots are counted. Umm... yeah, what kind of idiot doesn't know that this is clearly illegal? Oh, right... the corrupt kind.

ā€¢ Lots of experts who actually know a thing or two about "science" are rightly skeptical of the supposed coronavirus vaccine that the White House says should be distributed by November 1 (two days before the election). Is Trump seriously trying to turn me into an anti-vaxxer?? GO AWAY, 2020!!

ā€¢ Seven cops in Rochester, New York have been suspended following a killing in March in which a Black man in their custody died of suffocation after they put a "spitting hood" over his head.

ā€¢ In other "more illegal bullshit" news: Trump is now claiming he plans to restrict funding to US cities he calls ā€œanarchist jurisdictions," and HELL YEAH, Portland is one of 'em!

ā€¢ David Graeber, the activist behind Occupy Wall Street and author of Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, has died at the age of 59.

ā€¢Ā Today in "Hey! Portland wants a Chadwick Boseman statue, too!!": "Thousands petition for Chadwick Boseman statue to replace Confederate monument."

ā€¢Ā OH NO! Filming for the new movie The Batman has been delayed after star Robert Pattinson (Twilight) allegedly tested positive for coronavirus. Get well soon, Robert, and sorryā€”but I'm still "Team Jacob."

ā€¢ THE WEATHER REPORT: Cooling ever so slightly tomorrow with sunny skies and still a hot high of 92.

ā€¢ And finally, I'm sorry but those melon (and kiwi) slices SLAP.